In a major front-page story, "The High Cost of Precision," in its Sunday, September 7, 2008 edition, the Los Angeles Times once again focused on the negative side of CT technology. Its opening statement positioned its argument by saying, "CT scans produce detailed views of internal organs, but they expose patients to significant radiation." The

To say that the health care regulatory environment has been active over the past two years would be an understatement. The focus of this article is Medicare: the primary payor for health care services in this country and, often, the standard by which other payors establish their payment rules. Revisions to Medicare regulations often foretell what

Access to high-quality patient care is a cornerstone of customer-focused service delivery, Michael A. Silver, PhD, says. In turn, that goal is supported by technology that enhances performance and allows the imaging provider to do more with less. Part of making less go further is maximizing reimbursement through better management, he adds, ensuring

Finally, some good news for imaging. The eleventh-hour override of the president’s veto in early July saved the day for physicians, if only temporarily. Now, the bad news: The cumulative adjustments in the sustainable growth rate affecting the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule will now come due in a mere 18 months. The 10% reduction scheduled for

In 1998, Lynn Elliott, MBA, CPA, accepted a position as CEO of the thriving, hospital-based practice of Radiology Associates of Tarrant County (RATC), Fort Worth, Tex. With nine hospital clients but just one full-service imaging center, RATC charged Elliott with the task of growing the practice’s outpatient imaging center business. Fresh from a

During a client consultation via conference call last month, I was asked what other radiology practices are doing to deliver reports. “What they are doing is less important than providing what your referrers want,” I replied. “How do we find out?” asked the practice representative. “Ask them,” I said.

In what seems to be becoming as much a harbinger of summer as fireworks or cookouts, on July 7, 2008, CMS published its proposed Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) payment update for the next fiscal year. Once again, it includes a number of provisions intended to address CMS concerns about the appropriateness of the provision of imaging

It’s been a year and a half since the debut of the DRA imaging cuts, and the dust is beginning to settle in the outpatient imaging market, according to Douglas Lynch, senior vice president and US chief risk officer, and Thomas Bruce, senior vice president and senior credit officer, GE Healthcare Financial Services (GEHFS) Services, Brookfield, Wis.